posted at 7:30 pm on January 6, 2012 by Jazz Shaw

Rick Perry is clearly pulling out all the stops as a candidate who needs to engineer a “re-surge” in the primary process. In a recent editorial at Redstate, Perry is calling for an immediate and significant halt to any insider trading by members of Congress.. including throwing them in jail.

It’s not enough members of Congress make $174,000 a year, some are trading on inside information to use their public service to enrich themselves.

The Tribune is right, the Securities and Exchange Commission and Justice Department should be using every available tool to put a stop to this. But they are not. So, Congress needs to pass the STOCK Act as a matter of urgency, to do even more to ensure that this kind of thing is stopped dead in its tracks.

In addition to calling for tough measures to outlaw insider trading by Members of Congress, I’ve called for making Congress part-time, like the Texas legislature, cutting congressional pay in half, and amending FOIA to apply to Congress and the White House.

Perry is exercising a lot more courage in endorsing the STOCK Act than might even appear at first glance. In his editorial, he calls out Nancy Pelosi, and with good reason. But he’s not going to make any friends on his own side of the aisle with this position. (Paging John Boehner… John Boehner to the White Courtesy Phone.)

CBS said Boehner bought health insurance stocks during the health care debate, which increased in value after Republicans succeeded in killing a proposal to allow the government to offer a health insurance plan to compete with private companies.

In a statement, Bachus’ office said the representative never trades financial services stocks or trades on private information. Boehner said at a news conference that he has not made decisions on his stock portfolio for years.

Further, the STOCK Act is a product of Scott Brown. Yes… I know. He was a Tea Party favorite during his initial election effort, but he’s not exactly a model for the base these days and this particular web would be drawing in members from both sides of the partisan divide. All in all, a good move by Perry, though. If you want to be viewed as a real Washington outsider, take on issues which tip the apple cart over. But he shouldn’t look for any quick endorsements from members of Congress who have been cashing in on Wall Street.

It’s essentially another form of class warfare, ie the ruling class. These proposals against congress have a snowballs chance. It makes him look like he’s trying too hard… desperate really. He should stick to the issues.

LISTEN UP ALL YOU SUPPORTERS
Fighting for Perry is fighting for America, one battle at a time
In addition to his incredible ability to govern , Perry is a military man, he is not going to quit fighting. , he is going forward and we, as his best soldiers, will follow him all the way into the battle ground and win it or get killed together.
I don’t want to read any whining, and discussion about how and why… next battle is in South Carolina, our commander is heading that way and we, his best soldiers, are going to follow him full force with all our ammunitions. I want everyone to take a week off and plan to be in SC starting next week-end.

It has been an unchallenged refrain in many circles, “He can’t win. Doesn’t stand a chance. Another ‘dumb Texan’, too reminiscent of GW. Bad debater, can’t compete with Obama. Guardicil! Amnesty!!!” Or, ….silence….., ignored by many media outlets because, you know….”he doesn’t stand a chance to win.”

Allow me to identify the real obstacles to electing Gov. Perry and bringing about the needed changes in Washington. The 3 main challenges to his election are:
1) Greedy politicians, lobbyists and trial lawyers (they hate what Perry has denied them with his legislation in TX). They know they will lose their grip on $ and power if he is elected. Pay particular attention to those who cast their lot of endorsement early on for Romney, and more recently for Santorum (ethanol subsidies in Iowa ring a bell?).

Career politicians like the “Three Amigos” from Florida and their comfy cohorts in Washington (on both sides of the isle) are not going to risk installing anyone whom they cannot control or who will jeopardize their pot-o-gold. No surprise, they are placing their bets on “My Little Pony, Malleable Mitt”.

2) The media bards & pundits dedicated to serving the will of the members cited in (1); or, those who simply parrot the meme dujour because they want to fit in with the “elites” in journalism are complicit in maintaining the staus quo.

3) The lazy, gullible and lilly-livered electorate who are all too willing to let groups (1) and (2) select our President because they believe that Gov. Perry, the most qualified candidate, “doesn’t have a chance to win”. No, instead of performing due diligence, examining the man’s record of achievement in TX for 11 years, then acting on their own convictions, these spoilers will roll over and accept the propaganda they’ve been fed, get in line a cast a vote for “The One” predetermined by (1) and (2) as “most electable”.

The America that my ancestors created, fought for and bequeathed to me is being taken asunder by the corrupt and feckless leaders because drones and fools have allowed them into office.

So help me, as long as the blood of my patriotic forefathers flows in my veins, I’ll not allow my judgement to be shaken, my vote to be squandered or my will to be bent to conform to popular opinion….not when that opinion denigrates, rejects or willfully ignores a better choice.

Those of you who want to see this country turned around and set back on tract are going to have to be willing to go to primary sources and examine documented achievements of Gov. Perry. Tune out the talking heads, make your own decision, step up and courageously vote your conscience.Imagine what we could achieve. Who is with me?

I’m not up on the rules as much as some here. What would it take to get this on a national referendum? That seems to be the only way. Congress will not do this to themselves.

predator on January 6, 2012 at 8:08 PM

There is no national referendum available as a power, there is legislation by congress or an Amendment.

Personally, I think the key is to decentralize. That’s the only way to control Washington. That’s how the system was designed and why it stopped working: We got rid of federalism. The best Amendment I can think of would be a Nullification Amendment that would allow 2/3 of the states to repeal a federal law. That way the states could balance against the feds.

It’s essentially another form of class warfare, ie the ruling class. These proposals against congress have a snowballs chance. It makes him look like he’s trying too hard… desperate really. He should stick to the issues.

Red Creek on January 6, 2012 at 10:26 PM

Uhh, how is it class warfare to rail against a certain pay amount for a servant of the people? By that definition it would be class warfare to complain if a school board member was being paid a million bucks a year.

Also, you may not like the issue he has raised, but it is, by definition, an issue. So, he is sticking to an issue, just not one you prefer.

I just wonder how many of the people who call Rick Perry dumb read or heard some lib or lib repub first and took that as gospel? I also wonder how many could fly a jet fighter? I wonder how many could be elected three times Governor of any state,let alone a large state as Texas? I can see that pain meds and back pains can cause anyone to be off the mark. To stand up there and have the dribble from Lib MSM telapromter readers drone on with silly games,passing for meaningful questions, who among you all would not be atlest a little bored with it? I dont see how debating Barky well, who will lie anyway,as we all know,will be any good in dealing with world leaders? Will Perry be standing up to debate Putin? Or any others NO I know alot of people think Mitt will be a great debater ok great so what? What does he do for consertives? Will the party be turned over to the moderates? Just one of my opinions. Thanks for reading my post

I’m viewing this from an alternate perspective. Now I have no particular warm spot for congress. But Perry is clearly using them as a foil. Stirring the pot in an attempt gain traction. Perry needs a convenient bogeyman. And congress, being so unpopular, will do quite well in this role. It’s the same technique that OWS uses, just a different bogeyman, and a different audience to influence.

Perry is right. If you haven’t read Peter Schweitzer’s Throw Them All Out, I recommend doing so immediately. I thought, as a political blogger, that I was paying reasonably close attention to this stuff, but Schweitzer’s book makes clear it is much worse than I thought.

The points are outstanding. These things, this govt shake down, needs to be done. Only Perry will do it. The rest will just go along with the inertia of it all. By G we should spread the word on the link above.

I just wonder how many of the people who call Rick Perry dumb read or heard some lib or lib repub first and took that as gospel?

I call Rick Perry a buffoon because that is how he presents himself in public. I remember when Perry was first being promoted at the end of summer… I felt a little worried because I was a Romney supporter, and I didn’t want Romney to have tough competition. But, at the same time, I felt like it was possible that I could jump on the Perry bandwagon if it turned out that he was the best one to defeat Obama. Yes, I had an open mind. The first interview with Perry that I saw was one done by a Time Magazine reporter. Perry seemed a little scatterbrained, but I didn’t feel too concerned, thinking that maybe he was just behaving in an informal way. Then came the debates. No one, after watching Perry in the debates, who has functioning eyes and ears, can deny that Perry would be an utter embarrassment as our nominee. Perry is unable to speak English coherently. That is a major problem. He also doesn’t appear particularly knowledgeable about life or government outside of Texas. (By the way, the Governor of TX has little power compared to governors in other states.) I get the impression that Perry’s job is just to smile, look good and read the words handed to him by his staff. After seeing Perry in his first debate, I started looking up more videos of Perry. It seems clear that the man is not particularly sharp, but that he gets by on his fake, folksy charm and his ability to schmooze. Rick Perry is an empty suit who plays some kind of hokey, cartoonish cowboy in his gubernatorial campaign tv ads. He would certainly be a much better president than Obama, but there is NO WAY that he could get elected. I don’t want a nominee we have to keep making excuses for. Perry, who has an immature, child-like quality about him that’s endearing but that also is undesirable in a commander in chief, would be a laughingstock. Perry seems like a slacker. I want a president that I can be proud of.

I’m viewing this from an alternate perspective. Now I have no particular warm spot for congress. But Perry is clearly using them as a foil. Stirring the pot in an attempt gain traction. Perry needs a convenient bogeyman. And congress, being so unpopular, will do quite well in this role. It’s the same technique that OWS uses, just a different bogeyman, and a different audience to influence.

Red Creek on January 7, 2012 at 1:18 AM

No. it’s nothing like OWS tactics at all. You just aren’t going to get away with such a blatant attempt to make such a spurious connection. Congress isn’t a bogeyman, it’s a real, serious problem. Just stop it. Stop trying to smear Perry with the OWS comparisons. It’s not accurate and it’s nasty.

I just wonder how many of the people who call Rick Perry dumb read or heard some lib or lib repub first and took that as gospel?

I call Rick Perry a buffoon because that is how he presents himself in public. I remember when Perry was first being promoted at the end of summer… I felt a little worried because I was a Romney supporter, and I didn’t want Romney to have tough competition. But, at the same time, I felt like it was possible that I could jump on the Perry bandwagon if it turned out that he was the best one to defeat Obama. Yes, I had an open mind. The first interview with Perry that I saw was one done by a Time Magazine reporter. Perry seemed a little scatterbrained, but I didn’t feel too concerned, thinking that maybe he was just behaving in an informal way. Then came the debates. No one, after watching Perry in the debates, who has functioning eyes and ears, can deny that Perry would be an utter embarrassment as our nominee. Perry is unable to speak English coherently. That is a major problem. He also doesn’t appear particularly knowledgeable about life or government outside of Texas. (By the way, the Governor of TX has little power compared to governors in other states.) I get the impression that Perry’s job is just to smile, look good and read the words handed to him by his staff. After seeing Perry in his first debate, I started looking up more videos of Perry. It seems clear that the man is not particularly sharp, but that he gets by on his fake, folksy charm and his ability to schmooze. Rick Perry is an empty suit who plays some kind of hokey, cartoonish cowboy in his gubernatorial campaign tv ads. He would certainly be a much better president than Obama, but there is NO WAY that he could get elected. I don’t want a nominee we have to keep making excuses for. Perry, who has an immature, child-like quality about him that’s endearing but that also is undesirable in a commander in chief, would be a laughingstock. Perry seems like a slacker. I want a president that I can be proud of.

bluegill on January 7, 2012 at 5:03 AM

Change Perry to Bush and this could be the screed of any lefty over the last decade, minus the knock on Obama.

Gov. Perry Teaches Me To Shoot
“For some reason my buddy Melissa never told me she had this video of Gov. Rick Perry teaching me to shoot his Ruger last year (the one he shot the coyote with!). This is just too cool. I’ll say this about Gov. Perry. He is a down to earth guy. It wasn’t just me that he taught to shoot his gun that day. It was about 6 or 7 other Texas bloggers. I’ve had quite a few opportunities like this with the Governor because he is so willing to be with us regular folks. He spends a lot of time getting to know the person he’s speaking with as well. The bloggers that he invited to shoot with him were not some big time writers. We were just regular people who decided to get involved in the political process in order to make a difference in our country. Perry didn’t have to spend time with us or even invite us. If it were good media he was looking for, he could have invited hundreds of other professional writers with a lot more readership than ours.

The bloggers he chose were hometown folks who don’t make their living writing politics. We were Moms, business owners, blue collar workers, and teachers. But we got into writing about politics because we felt we needed to. We wanted to make a difference. This is what impressed me about Perry. I’ve been to political fundraisers in River Oaks. I’ve watched Perry work a room in those big mansions. He can mingle and schmooze with the rich, and he can mingle and schmooze with us who are not so rich. He makes everyone feel comfortable when you are around him. That’s his gift. Will it translate to a national campaign? I don’t know yet. I’m sitting back and watching like the rest of you…”http://blog.chron.com/texassparkle/2011/08/gov-perry-teaches-me-to-shoot/

… Well I ain’t never been the ‘Obama Girl’ type
No I can’t stand pay for play, I rather shoot straight and right!
… In Austin, there’s a cowboy, Rick Perry is his name
He’s got friends in his camp like Forbes, Gatlin and Strait!
Some people look down on him, but he don’t give a rip
He’ll stand tall in his boots and shoot straight from the hip!

Chorus
’cause I’m a Perry woman- I ain’t no far left broad
I’m just a product of my raisen’- I say ‘hey y’all’ and ‘yee-haw’
Real men are my passion and they have been all along
And I know all the words to every Ted Nugent song!
So here’s to President Perry, a real Tea Party Dream
Let me get a big ‘hell yeah’ from the Perry Girls like me- hell yeah!

Solyndra secrets, well that stuffs not right
We need a man with a real jobs plan- get us back workin’ overnight!
And still cut spendin’, balance budgets and a tax cut for all you see
Send Congress home, have’em work part time- They’ll answer to you and me!
Well you might think he’s handsome, gun totin’ and hardcore
But in my neck of the woods he’s just the man next door!

The America that my ancestors created, fought for and bequeathed to me is being taken asunder by the corrupt and feckless leaders because drones and fools have allowed them into office.

So help me, as long as the blood of my patriotic forefathers flows in my veins, I’ll not allow my judgement to be shaken, my vote to be squandered or my will to be bent to conform to popular opinion….not when that opinion denigrates, rejects or willfully ignores a better choice.

Those of you who want to see this country turned around and set back on tract are going to have to be willing to go to primary sources and examine documented achievements of Gov. Perry. Tune out the talking heads, make your own decision, step up and courageously vote your conscience.Imagine what we could achieve. Who is with me?

I’m not trying to smear the man. I think he, and we would all be better served by sticking to pertinent issues, instead of chasing after things that aren’t realistically attainable. Let’s assume that he gets elected. What should be his first priority? Is he going to send his praetorian guard to round up the critters? I think not. He probably wouldn’t do anything about it. There are graver issues to deal with. Like getting rid of obamacare for starters. Besides, how is he not treating congress like the other 1%?

Those of you who want to see this country turned around and set back on tract are going to have to be willing to go to primary sources and examine documented achievements of Gov. Perry. Tune out the talking heads, make your own decision, step up and courageously vote your conscience.Imagine what we could achieve. Who is with me?

“The big truth here is that we need to do better, and we’ve needed to be doing better, for a long time now. It will not surprise me if the Obama Administration and his political advisers start trumpeting these numbers as proof that their policies have worked to get the country out of the mess that bad policy created and exacerbated. But the truth is, they could and should have pursued a different economic approach that would have gotten the economy moving much faster, and created more jobs for all kinds of workers faster. They had an example in my state, Texas.

In Texas, we have consistently followed a few basic, common sense principles where economic policy is concerned. First, don’t spend all the money. Second, keep taxes low. Third, keep regulations in check. On my watch, the state has seen the addition of one million net new jobs, while the rest of the country lost two million. These jobs cut across industries, too: Some were in the energy field (oil and gas, but also wind power), some were in the tech sector (as anyone who has visited Austin recently could guess), some have been in the service sector, and so on. We’ve created jobs for high-skilled workers, unskilled workers and everyone in between.…”

I’m not trying to smear the man. I think he, and we would all be better served by sticking to pertinent issues, instead of chasing after things that aren’t realistically attainable. Let’s assume that he gets elected. What should be his first priority? Is he going to send his praetorian guard to round up the critters? I think not. He probably wouldn’t do anything about it. There are graver issues to deal with. Like getting rid of obamacare for starters. Besides, how is he not treating congress like the other 1%?

Red Creek on January 7, 2012 at 12:38 PM

Red Creek

You were fine up until the last sentence. You make a good and fair criticism of Perry’s attacks on Congress. In fact, I happen to agree that the reforms he is speaking of will probably go nowhere and I think he should focus on other issues. My problem is your comparison to the OWS crowd and class warfare tactics. The so called 1% that OWS goes after are private individuals who, ostensibly, make their money through a free market economy. They do not subsist on tax dollars. Congressmen do. So, how much a one percenter makes is none of anyone’s business. The only reason for demonizing them is to build justification for wealth redistribution. But it is everyone’s rightful concern what a Congressman is paid with tax dollars. And if they don’t do their jobs well, it is reasonable that people might want to cut their pay. After all, unlike the 1%, Congress works for ALL of us. That is not class warfare. It is public accountability of a public servant.

Criticize his plan all you like. I don’t really think it’s realistic and think reforms must be focused on decentralizing power to the states- something Perry also believes in. But comparing Perry to those dirty POS commies is not appropriate. That’s my only beef with you.

That’s very cute, however, Perry’s supporters have not all been raised saying, “yeehaw and y’all”; I was born and raised in Chicagoland and still live there, yet I’ve been a huge supporter of the Governor’s since before he even threw his hat in the ring! I think that’s a huge strength of his: he appeals to all Americans yearning to breathe free, including northerners, lol!